Telephone paystation coin chute control apparatus



April 19, 1955 R. J. GALLAGHER TELEPHONE PAYSTATION COIN CHUTE CONTROL APPARATUS 2 Shee'ts$heet 1 Filed Oct. 13 1951 INVENTOR. RAY JOHN GALLAGHER BY )7 Z ATTY.

April 19, 1955 R. J. GALLAGHER TELEPHONE PAYSTATION COIN CHUTE CONTROL APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 13, 1951 SWITCH TRAIN llli INVENTOR RAY JGiN saumnm ATTY.

United States Patent TELEPHONE PAYSTATION COIN CHUTE CONTROL APPARATUS Ray John Gallagher, River Forest, Ill., assignor to Automatic Electric Laboratories, Inc., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application October 13, 1951, Serial No. 251,212

1 Claim. (Cl. 194-16) The present invention relates in general to coin controlling apparatus for use in coin operated telephone paystations and more particularly to a coin controlling mechanism for controlling the acceptance or rejection of nickel coins.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved electro-mechanical means for use with new or existing telephone paystations that will prevent the initiating of a call by the depositing of a nickel in the paystation and will cause an immediate refunding of the coin, a dime or a quarter being necessary to initiate the call, but which will, after a call has been initiated, permit the paystation to accept nickel coins to thus provide for the use of nickel coins in payment for toll calls.

For a more detailed understanding of the complete paystation apparatus, reference may be had to United States Patent No. 1,383,472, issued July 5, 1921 to G. A. Long. This present invention is directed to control apparatus that is used to adapt the paystation of the above cited patent to fulfill the object of this invention. A mechanism used for the same purpose is disclosed in my co-pending United States application filed June 21, 1950, bearing Serial No. 169,479.

One embodiment of this invention is disclosed in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows the coin deflecting mechanism mounted on a coin chute plate designed to adapt present paystation coin chutes to this mechanism, part of the standard coin chute being shown, 4

Fig. 2 shows the coin deflecting mechanism in mounting position on a newly designed coin chute,

Fig. 3 shows a top view of thecoin deflecting mechanism which comprises a small relay mounted on a bracket whereon is also pivotally mounted a coin deflecting member controlled by the relay,

Fig. 4 shows the relay assembly of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a side view of part of the deflecting mechanism,

Fig. 6 is a side view of a part of the coin deflecting mechanism in cooperation with the coin chute at the moment when a nickel is being deflected from the nickel channel to be refunded,

Fig. 7 is a top view of the mechanism of Fig. 6 along section line B B,

Fig. 8 is a side view of the same mechanism of Fig. 6 at a time when the deflecting member has been moved aside to allow the nickel to continue through the channel,

Fig. 9 is a top view of the mechanism of Fig. 8 along section line C-C, and

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view illustrating one method of electrically operating this apparatus.

Referring now to Figs. l5, the deflecting mechanism comprises a small magnet I mounted on a V-shaped metal bracket 2. Bent upwardly at right angles to the base portion of the bracket 2 is an extension face 3 on which the magnet 1 is mounted by means of screws 4. Also forming a part of the bracket 2 is an L-shaped extension plate 5, the shorter leg of the extension 5 being bent at right angles to the base portion of bracket 2, the long leg of extension 5 being in a plane parallel thereto. In the base portion of bracket 2 are holes 6 by means of which the bracket is mounted on the coin chute apparatus by screws 7. Mounted on the long leg of extension 5 is a U-shaped bracket 8, the base portion of the bracket 8 being secured by rivets 9 to the bracket extension 5. The lower leg 10 of bracket 8 extends the full length of the bracket 8 and forms a ledge or shelf, the purpose for which will later become evident. The upper leg 11 extends over one end only of bracket 8 and has a bent-down portion forming a guide plate 12.

.Pivotally mounted in holes in legs 10 and 11 is a deflection member 13, the mounting portion of the deflecting member being identified by the number 25. The deflection member 13 is made of a straight piece of rigid wire bent as shown to extend longitudinally through the bracket 8. A spacer bushing 14 is slipped over the mounting portion 25 of member 13 and is used to hold the member a fixed distance above shelf 10, the straight longitudinal portion of member 13 resting on the upper surface of bushing 14 (Fig. 5). The lower edge of plate 12 extends over the longitudinal portion of member 13 and prevents the member from rising.

The relay 1 is equipped with an armature 15 having an L-shaped arm 16 integral with and movable thereby. Spot-welded to the short leg of said arm 16 is the short leg of a second L-shaped extension arm or lever 17, arms 16 and 17 being movable as a unit by magnet 1. A spring 19 is tensioned to restore armature 15 during periods of deenergization of relay 1. The arm 17 extends through an opening 20 in bracket 2, and in the free end thereof is a slot 18.

One free end 26 of the deflecting member 13 is arranged to fit into the slot 18 of arm 17. Thus it can be seen that movement of the armature 15 responsive to energization of relay 1 causes arm 17 to move and in turn rotate deflecting member 13 about its mounting axis (rotation is counter-clockwise looking at Fig. 3), thus moving the other free end 21 towards the bracket extension 5. On deenergization of relay 1, the restoring spring 19 will return the arms 16 and 17 to normal, thus rotating the member 13 back to its normal position in which it is shown in Fig. 3.

Having described the deflecting mechanism, a brief description of the coin chute apparatus will now be given. The above cited patent to G. A. Long and U. S. Patent No. 1,043,219 dated November 5, 1912, and issued to O. F. Forsberg both disclose coin chutes now in common use.

The coin chute assembly in common use today is composed of a back plate, a center plate and a front plate which form the nickel, dime and quarter channels. The coin chute is mounted in the upper section of the paystation housing (the upper section being removable as a unit from the remainder of the housing) at an angle of about twelve degrees from the vertical, as shown in Fig. 2 of Forsberg Patent No. 1,043,219 cited above, the plate on the left or towards the back of the housing being the back plate and the plate nearest the front of the housing being the front plate. The quarter channel is formed in thick and heavy metal front plate, the center plate acting as a cover for this channel, and the nickel and dime channels are formed in the thick and heavy metal center plate, the back plate being a thin, light piece of metal acting as a cover for the nickel and dime channels. Because of the forward lean of the coin chute apparatus when mounted in place in the housing, the nickels and dimes lean against the center plate when traveling through the channel but not the back plate, thus accounting for the light construction of the back plate.

Located along the nickel and dime channels in the center plate are discharge openings as indicated by 34 in Fig. 3 of Forsberg Patent No. 1,043,219 cited above. These openings are for the purpose of allowing underdiameter coins to fall from the channels into the refund receptacle. These openings are carefully gauged so that coins of minutely smaller diameters than the proper coins will fall through.

In the co-pending application cited above, use of the deflecting mechanism disclosed therein necessitated enlarging the discharge opening for the nickel channel in the heavy metal center plate so that even bona fide nickels would be discharged therefrom until such time as a small spring member would move into position to in effect decrease the size of the opening so that a nickel would be retained in the channel. The spring must be of a proper size and carefully mounted so that coins varying minutely from the size of the standard nickel will be discharged from the channel while the spring retains standard sized nickels. Using this system for converting paystation apparatus presently in use, it is evident that the entire coin chute must be removed from the upper section of the paystation housing so that the opening in the center plate can be enlarged, a job made more diflicult by the thick ness of the plate, and also that the spring must be carefully mounted and finely adjusted on the coin chute apparatus. It is also necessary that the spring be constructed of a very durable material since all of the nickels passing completely through the channel would necessarily lean against and thereby abrade the spring.

In the present embodiment of this invention, a thin metal plate 22 (Fig. 1) is provided to replace the back plate on the coin chute apparatus now in use. This may be done without removing the coin chute from the upper section of the paystation housing. This replacement plate 22 differs from the back plate now in use in that the opening 23 therein directly opposite the opening 27 in the center plate 28 through which nickels are discharged has been enlarged. A section 24 on the bottom portion of the opening 23 has been cut away, as can be seen when the plate is compared with the back plate shown in Fig. 4 of Forsberg Patent No. 1,043,219 cited above. This section could easily be cut from the present existing back plate rather than substituting the new plate 22 therefor if desired. Fig. 2 shows the coin chute apparatus disclosed and claimed in the co-pending application of T. F. Cassidy, ]r., filed November 7, 1951, Serial No. 255,264, entitled Universal Coin Chute, with the coin deflecting mechanism described herein mounted thereon.

The manner in which the coin deflecting mechanism and the coin chute apparatus cooperate to refund nickels when they are used to initiate a call will now be described with relation to plate 22 and present existing coin chute apparatus. As previously stated, the deflecting mechanism is mountedon the coin chute apparatus by screws 7 through holes 6 in bracket 2. The bracket 15 so mounted that the deflecting member 13 extends through the cut-away portion 24 of the opening 23 and extends diagonally across the nickel channel 29 formed in the center plate (Fig. 7). The member 13 takes this diagonal position when the relay 1 is not energized, this being the normal condition of the relay 1 before a call is initiated. The lower edge of the cut-away portion 24 is level with or slightly lower than the base or floor of the nickel channel 29 on which the nickel rolls and the shelf or ledge 10 is level with or slightly lower than this lower edge.

In a paystation of this general type, it is necessary, before a call can be extended, for a deposited coin to pass down through the coin chute to operate a coin trigger therein. Such a coin trigger can be seen in United States Patent No. 1,117,485 issued November 17, 1914, to O. F. Forsberg entitled Electromagnet. This coin trigger will operate a pair of springs such as 30 (Fig. 10) to connect up the coin magnets such as 31 in order to permit operation of the usual line relay to initiate a call.

Assume now that a person attempts to initiate a call at the paystation using a nickel. At this time the relay 1 is in the restored or normal position. The nickel is deposited in the opening therefor at the top of the housing and proceeds down and along the nickel channel 29. When the nickel reaches the portion of the channel wherein the deflecting member 13 is located (Figs. 6 and 7), the forward lower edge of the nickel comes into contact with the member 13. The member 13 forces the lower portion of the nickel to move sideways from the floor of the nickel channel across the lower edge of the opening 24 in plate 22 and onto the shelf 10 on bracket extension 5, the nickel at the same time maintaining its forward motion. The upper portion of the nickel is maintained in the channel due to the restraining upper edges of the opening 23 and 27 in plate 22 and the center plate 28, but as the lower portion of the nickel is moved further out onto ledge 10, the upper portion of the nickel is moved downward until such time when the upper edge of the nickel loses contact with and moves out under the upper edge of the discharge opening 27 in the center plate 28. The nickel then falls through the discharge opening 27 in the center plate 28 due to the force of gravity to the refund receptacle, the lower portion of the nickel flipping over the member 13. Guide plate 12 serves the purpose of further urging the nickel out the opening 27 in the center plate 28 should the nickel move forward a suflicient distance to bring the forward edge of the nickel into contact with the plate 12. Under-sized coins will fall from the nickel channel in the usual manner but with an assist from the deflecting mechanism.

It is thus obvious that a call cannot be initiated with a n1ckel, a dime or a quarter being needed'to operate the triggering mechanism (not shown) in the paystation.

It is also evident that although a nickel is not sufficient to initiate a call, it is necessary to allow for the collection of nickels when they are used to make up the charges for a toll call. Relay 1 is used to remove the deflecting member from across the nickel channel responsive to operations of the type performed by circuit arrangements such as shown in Fig. 10, this Fig. 10 being used only as an illustration. Relay 1 is shown connected in series with the transmitter and the dial of the paystation. Initiation of a call causes the closing of spring contacts 30 which causes operation of the line relay. A portion of the subsequent switch train is operated responsive thereto and exchange battery is connected back across the line leads to operate relay 1. Operation of relay 1 causes the arms 16 and 17 to move and thus rotate defleeting member 13 to the back plate side of the nickel channel 29 to allow nickels to pass through the nickel channel to the collect receptacle (Figs. 8 and 9) when deposited responsive to request by the toll operator.

Having described this embodiment of my invention in detail, what I desire to be protected by Letters Patent of the United States is:

In combination, a telephone paystation coin chute comprising a pair of coin retaining walls and a floor defining a coin channel running in a vertical direction therein, one of said walls having a first coin discharge opening therein, the lower edge thereof being located above the floor level of said channel, through which coins deposited in said channel are acted upon to be discharged from said channel in a certain instance, the other said wall having a second opening therein opposite said discharge opening, the lower edge thereof being level with or below the floor of said channel, and a coin deflecting mechanism comprising a bracket having a flat surface for mounting said deflecting mechanism on said coin chute and a bracket extending perpendicular to said flat surface, a relay mounted on said bracket extension, a deflecting member pivotally mounted on said bracket, a ledge on said bracket, said ledge positioned outside said second chute opening and level with or below the lower edge thereof and said deflecting member extending over said ledge and into said second chute opening, an armature on said relay, an arm integral with said armature and extending around said bracket extension and across said flat surface for movably engaging said deflecting member to control movement thereof, said deflecting member extending diagonally across said channel in one instance, when said relay is deenergized, for engaging the lower side of a deposited coin and for moving the lower side of said coin through said lower edge of said second opening onto said ledge, whereby the upper side of a deposited coin is disengaged from within said walls and said coin is tilted and discharged from said channel through said first opening, means for energizing said relay in another instance, said armature operated responsive to said relay energization for moving said deflecting member to a position extending substantially flush with said other wall to form a coin retaining wall across the lower edge of said second opening, whereby a deposited coin is retained within said channel and allowed to follow along said channel beyond both said openings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 884,470 Craft Apr. 14, 1908 1,053,897 Axt Feb. 18, 1913 1,821,501 Du Grenier Sept. 1, 1931 1,963,302 Comer June 19, 1934 2,095,541 Bokisch Oct. 12, 1937 2,179,091 Hoyt Nov. 7, 1939 2,278,436 Friend Apr. 7, 1942 2,377,413 Fry June 5, 1945 

